If you are looking for something to cheer you up after the Gophers and Vikings football you watched over the weekend, consider these two small things:

1) The Gophers football team, despite its shortcomings, is going to a bowl game. It won the requisite number of games. And despite losing to Iowa earlier this year, the Gophers can hold that bowl bid over the heads of Hawkeyes fans. Because Iowa -- poor 4-8 Iowa -- is staying home. Season over. Done. Or as noted yesterday by GopherHole, these are the Hawkeyes' bowl T-shirts.

2) The latest AP men's basketball poll has the Gophers at No. 21 -- and Wisconsin unranked. It is very early on, but we have even heard from Badgers fans that they think this is the year Minnesota finally eclipses Wisconsin in men's hoops. Time will tell, and we know Bo Ryan's teams have a habit of improving, but for now this ranking and sentiment are yours to cherish.

There are, of course, a couple of things that could keep these positive vibes going: 1) The Gophers football team, regardless of which bowl it plays in, needs to have a positive performance on both sides of the ball to restore faith and the idea that there were significant strides made this season. 2) The men's basketball team needs to continue to play well and defeat Florida State -- an unranked but tough road opponent -- tonight.